Nearly four decades of the Assad regime, first the father and then the son (incumbent), have etched memories of economic stagnation and underdevelopment that would be nothing but difficult to obliterate. Given the current situation in the Arabian Gulf and the Maghreb region of North Africa, it is immutable that nothing has brought about more unity in the Arab cultural identity than this critical insurrection against a tyrannical regime that has reigned with an iron fist.
The Arab Spring revolution, also known across the world as the Jasmine Revolution, sprung with an indefatigable resolve to overthrow corrupt and authoritarian regimes, mainly regarding the stagnant social and economic status of the vast majority of Arabs. Realizing that governance with little or no freedom is derogatory to the idea of a democracy, 2011 has been the year of rebellion across the Arabic speaking world.
Enter Amina Abdallah Arraf Al-Omari, an American-Syrian blogger, who claims to be gay, representing the gay and lesbian majority of the country. In epic narratives that brought to light the ignominy of the Syrian LGBT community, as well as her own, A Gay Girl in Damascus garnered widespread attention not only in Syria, but across the world. Her Facebook page already had one and a half thousand fans before it was detected that the blog was a hoax, created by Tom McMaster, an American, who allegedly claims that the identity of the individual was contrived, but the details were veritable. The blog raised serious questions about the treatment of homosexual people in Syria and their maltreatment. Not only this, it emboldened the exasperated citizens to voice their opinion on the Internet.
As if tribulations for the people continue, so do the death tolls rise, and Syria continues to hurtle down to the precipice. The Shabbiha ( Pro-Assad gunmen) , as they are known, have killed more than two thousand civilians already. They have tightened up security across all borders and have eliminated any chance of escape, save for a couple border openings in Jisr-al-Shugour with Turkey. Most Syrians, left without an egress out of this political hullabaloo, look towards the West to salvage any hope of freedom. However, they aren’t enamoured with the fact that beseeching the West for an intervention would only ruin their democratic propaganda. Orthodox Syrians firmly believe in an old proverb which goes – The ziwan (rye grass) of your own country is better than the wheat of the stranger.
Imploring the West causes more harm than good, not to one but to both the belligerents. For the Western powers, another failed attempt at pacifying tensions, replicating that in Morocco, could be grave to its aspirations of regional alliances. Syria, and the rest of the Arab world, faces far more predicaments than the former. Firstly, sharing borders with Israel would only escalate tensions in a highly volatile region with flaring levels of animosity. Secondly, if the Syrians were to depend on the West, they would face extensive condemnation from countries such as Libya and Yemen that have avoided any confrontation with them. Furthermore, any involvement in Syria’s movement could only exacerbate the oppression of the Assad regime. Also, the West connotes with the idea that the Syrian’s would believe Israel to have an upper hand in all of this.
The question is- Till when will the UN turn a blind eye to these abhorrent wrongdoings in Syria and the Middle East? More importantly, when will the revolutions across the region set the harbinger for democracy and stability?
Food for thought.
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